The DeMarini Force started the 19-and-under Top Gun baseball tournament with a big win Friday afternoon. But the Force fell flat that night against the Wichita Rockies.

The loss earned a long talk from the coaches afterwards. It seemed to work, because the Force played better Saturday, then won two games Sunday to win the tournament championship.

Two of the contributing players were Augusta’s Kolton Schenker and Michael Albright. Schenker pitched a complete game in the Force’s 7-3 win against Winfield in Saturday’s game.

The Force beat the Wichita Grays 6-3 to start Sunday, then romped CEC, a team with players from Sedan and Central Burden, by a score of 11-1 to win the title.

In pool play, the Force started the tournament with a tough matchup against the Grays, with whom they’ve had a mini-rivalry this summer. They split the first two meetings, but the Force controlled most of Friday’s game on way to a 7-3 win. Schenker was 2-for-2 with a walk, RBI, stolen base and a run scored in the contest.

In Friday’s nightcap, the Rockies jumped all over the Force in the first inning, forcing early pitching changes. The Force made a couple errors in the field as the Rockies ran away with the win.

In elimination play, the offense got back on track against Winfield to advance to the semifinals. That’s where they met the Grays again, and beat them again, led by the pitching of Garrett Price.

The top-seeded Rockies got upset by CEC in the semis. Connor Dempsey, who’s from Mulvane, was the winning pitcher in the championship game